The present invention relates to an electrical connector having a structure for firmly retaining a plurality of terminals, particularly to a battery connector for firmly and accurately positioning the terminals in the battery connector.
Since the trend in notebook computers is toward lighter weight and a smaller profile, battery connectors having a low profile above a printed circuit board (PCB) in notebooks are usually desired to allow the profile of the battery package used in the notebook to meet the space requirements of the notebook. A conventional battery connector is mounted on top of a printed circuit board, resulting in a conventional battery package profile which includes at least the height of the connector and the thickness of the PCB. Such a battery connector and related battery package are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,883. With reference to FIGS. 1, 8-10 and 12 of that patent, a battery connector 1 comprises an insulative housing 2, at least a cavity 3 defined in the housing 2 and an electrical contact 4 received in each cavity 3. Each cavity 3 comprises a first cavity portion 5 receiving the contact 4 and a second cavity portion 6 receiving a mating contact 7 of a mating connector 8. A first channel 24 has a stepped width defining a groove 26 and a shoulder 27. The contact 4 includes a thin blade 11 and a contact portion 15 forwardly and diagonally extending from a front edge of the blade 11. The contact portion 15 has a tip 17 which remains within the first channel 24 behind the shoulder 27. The housing 2 provides a pair of projecting posts 21 on a bottom thereof to be connected to a printed circuit board (not shown).
The connector is entirely mounted on the printed circuit board, thus, the profile of the connector above the printed circuit board is the whole height of the connector itself. Furthermore, the connector lacks a fixing means to effectively prevent an impact force from acting on the contacts 13 when a battery is inserted into the notebook and connected with the mating connector 8, so that over time, the electrical connection between the contacts 4 and the printed circuit board may mechanically break.
Therefore, an improved battery connector is necessary to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.